The Aryavarth Express
Agency(New Delhi): The Supreme Court of India made a decisive ruling on Tuesday, quashing the money laundering proceedings against Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and his aide, Anjaneya Hanumanthaiah. This judgment came as a resolution to the appeals filed against the 2019 verdict of the Karnataka High Court, which had maintained the enforcement of summonses issued by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The High Court’s earlier decision was founded on the premise that Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) could independently trigger the application of the PMLA. This interpretation, however, was deemed ‘unsustainable’ by the apex court, drawing upon its recent Pavana Dibbur judgment, which revisited and clarified the scope of Section 120B in relation to the PMLA.
The controversy originated from allegations against Shivakumar and others related to money laundering, following the seizure of unaccounted cash worth over Rs seven crore during income tax raids in 2017. Despite the Karnataka High Court’s August 2019 affirmation of the ED’s summonses, the Supreme Court had previously shielded the appellants from coercive measures in October of the same year.
The Supreme Court’s judgment articulated that Section 120B IPC qualifies as a scheduled offence under the PMLA only when it pertains to a conspiracy aimed at committing an offence already listed in the PMLA schedule. This nuanced interpretation was critical in overturning the High Court’s stance and quashing the proceedings against Shivakumar and Hanumanthaiah.
While this decision brings relief to the appellants, the court noted the existence of a review petition by the ED against the Pavana Dibbur judgment. It underscored that the outcomes of this review could potentially reaffirm the High Court’s initial judgment, thereby reopening avenues for the ED to seek a review or recall of the Supreme Court’s current order.
This case, Anjaneya Hanumanthaiah v. Principal Director of Income Tax & Ors., signifies a pivotal moment in the legal discourse surrounding the PMLA and the interpretative lenses through which conspiracy under Section 120B IPC is viewed in the context of money laundering allegations.
